Control mechanism foe calculating machines



July 12, 1932. J. H. F. SILVER 1,866,950

CONTROL MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed March 30. 1927 5Sheets-Sheet. l

ME md\ July 12, 1932. J. H F. SILVER 1,866,950

CONTROL MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed March 50, 1927 5Sheets-Sheet 2 55 4'; 1*63 C 75 w: L 7

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CONTROL MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Marbh 30, 1927S'SheetS-Sheet 3 July 12, 1932. J. H. F. SILVER 1,866,950

CONTROL MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed March 30. 1927 5Sheets-Sheet 4 July 12 1932.

J. H. F. SILVER CONTROL MECHANISM FOR CALCULATING MACHINES Filed Marchso, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet s Patented July 12, 1932 PATENT oFFicE JOHN H.same, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA coN'rnoL MECHANISM FOR CALCULATINGMACHINES Application filed March 30, 1927, Serial No. 179,536.

My invention relates to calculating and adding machines, one of theimportant objects, briefly stated, residing in a'very simple, highlyeffective and practicable type, or

ii attachment which may be readilyf'placed upon or built into theexisting calculating machine of the type generally known as keydriventype of machine, for the purposeof warning the operator by not onlyvisible signal but by means of an audible signalthe instantthe' strokeof any one of the'keys has not been. completed, as whenthe key is butpartially depressed. I I am aware of the fact that various attempts havebeen made to remedy this very serious diificulty in connectionwithcalculating machines in an efiort-to assist the operator to continue hiscalculations withoutthe necessity of cancelling and repeating.

'As it iswell known to those familiar with the art, when a mistake ismade, as when a key has not been. fully depressed, the clearing levermust be pulled forward for resetting H all of the keys to zero in thatparticular col-' umn. For this reason. operators of this type of machinehave found it simpler and faster, on small calculations, to cancel andgo over the problem rather thanto stop and make the necessarycorrection.

'VVith my improved attachment, l haveprovided' means for automaticallylocking every 1 key in all of the columns simultaneously. In thismanner, it will be readily understood the M operator is prevented fromdepressing keys of columns other than the one in which the partialstroke was made, as for instance, in the process of multiplying,'and,should the operator fail to hear the audible signal, he

, may readily see at a glance, the'particular key which wasinadvertently partially depressed. if

It is to be understood that I donot limit myself merely to the detailsof construction as shown, butthat the scope of my'invention extends towhatever construction may be defined by or included within the terms,

ca closes mechanism for locking all of the rows with the exception ofthe row in which a partial key-stroke was made. In the drawings Figure 1is a side elevation of a calculating machine of the key-driven typeillustrating 53 my invention in its normal position;

Figure 2 is a similar view partially broken away, showing the clearinglever in an intermediate and extreme forward position; i

Figure 3 illustrates a top plan View there- 60 of, a portion thereofbeing broken away;

'Figure 4 is a central longitudinal section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3,looking in the direction of the arrows, portions ofthe calculatingmachineomitted for the purpose of 65 clearness and illustrating the keyin its normal or raised position; I i

Figure 5 is a similar view showing the key but, partially depressed andlocked;

v Figure, 6-jsh0fws a similar View butillustrates thelocation oftheseveral parts. as when the key is fully depressed and readyto beturned toits initial or normal position;

Figure 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line7-7 of Figure6; 775

Figure 8 illustrates a view in perspective of one of the keysillustrating my improvement; y

, Figure 9 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 9--9 ofFigure 4;

F igure 10 is asimilar viewtaken through Figure 5; e e

-Figure 11 is a view in perspective ofv the frame work of my improvedattachment clearly illustratingthe bell of the actuating mechanism inconnection therewith; e

Figure 12 isa View in perspective on an enlarged scale of several ofthedetails illustrating them in their coacting position.

My invention, in the form or embodiment n shown in the drawings andbriefly described, comprises a pair of oppositely disposed plates, 10and 11, which may be readily riveted as at 12, or otherwise secured tothe frame of the existing machine. These plates, 10 and 11, are suitablybraced at. their outer end by means ofthe usual tubular member, 18, withits associated rod and fastening means. It is to be understood, ofcourse, that if my attachment is to be built into the machine, the 3 7plates, 10 and 11, would merely be continued rearwardly from the sideplates of the machine.

Inasmuch as calculating machines of this type are well known to thosefamiliar with the art, I will make no attempt to go into detail with theexisting or well known machines other than what is directly associatedwith my improved attachment hereto. An example of this type ofcalculating machine is disclosed in the Patent No. 1,252,? 38 filedApril 20, 1908 and which was issued January 8 1918.

Referring particularly to Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings, thelocking dogs, 15*, which are of course loosely hung or pivotally mountedin the usual manner upon the transversely extending rods, 15, are shownarranged as to permit a single keystem to pass between the entire seriesof locking dogs. In Figures 9 and 10 are illustrated the extremepositions of one of the locking dogs, 15, with respect to the extension,15, of the keystem, 15. As is already well known in this art and asshown in Figure 6, the depressed keystem causes the locking dogs toswing and the entire series having but a limited amount of movementprevents more than a single keystem from being depressed at a time ineach row. Upon the return of the depressed keystem the locking dogs,15", will of course again receive their normal position.

011 the lower portion of one of the legs of the operating key, 15, Irigidly secure a pin, 16, as is clearly illustrated in Figures 8, 9 and10, which is extended partially across the slot formed between the twolower legs of the keys, 15. The purpose of the pins, 16, is to engagethe upper curved surface of hook portions, 17, which may be eitherformed integrally with the upper edge of the usual key control lever,18, or which may be secured thereto in any desired manner. When the keysare in their normal position, as is shown in Figure 4 of theaccompanying drawings, the pins, 16, are free to movedownwardly beyondthe hook portion, 17, the said keys being held in their upper positionby means of the usual springs indicated as at 19.

The rear end of the key control lever, 18, is, of course, pivotallymounted to the lower end of the bell crank member, 22, as at 23, and thetoothed arm, 24, is likewise mounted to the upper end of the member, 22,as at 25, they being held in their raised position by means of the coilspring, 26, in-the usual manner.

A relatively short distance below the pivot, 25, is loosely pivoted bymeans of a rivet, 27, or the like, what might be termed a main controlpiece, 28, which is provided in its approximate center with an elongatedslot, 29. The upper and lower edges ofthe main control piece, 28, areprovided with oppositely formed ratchet teeth, 30 and 31, fora purof thekeys, 15. The extreme rearward end of the main control piece, 28, isrounded to form a nose, 35, and is also provided at its upper edgeadjacent to the nose 35, with a cutout portion, 36, to form a tooth.

To the lock control lever, 40, and preferably near tie rear end thereof,I provide an upwardly extending portion, 41, and a rearwardly extendingand relatively narrow arm, 12, which terminates in a bevelled or reducedend, 13. A diagonally extending arm, lat, is integrally formed on theupper end of the arm, 42, and provided on its upper extremity with arounded nose, -15. It is to be understood, of course, that the arms, l2and at, are stamped or otherwise integrally formed with the lock controllever,-at0.

The pawls, 19 and 18, which, for clearness. may be termed up-pawls anddown-pawls, are each pivoted at their rear ends to the rods, and 51,which extend transversely across the supplemental frame of myattachn'ient by means of angularly bent lugs or ears, 52 and As isobvious from the drawings, the pawl, #18, is adapted to align with andengage the teeth, 30, of the main control piece, 28, whereas the pawl,4:9, is in alignment with and adapted for engagement with the lower setof teeth, 31. The lugs or cars, 52, are provided with a slightlyelongated slot or opening, 54:, for a purpose to be further described.

The rear end of the down-pawl, .48, is formed with a down 'ardlyextending toe, 55, which is adapted for engagement with the extreme endof the arm, 56, which is, in turn, bent downwardly forming an arm, 57.The members forming the arms, 56 and 57, are secured to a rod or shaft,58, which is journaled in the plates, 10 and 11, of the supplementalframe. The lower extremity of the arm, 57, is slightly extended as at59, for the purpose of forming a latch or dog, and is adapted to engagethe outwardly extending arm, 60, which is integrally formed with thepawl, 61. The pawl, 61, is secured to and carried by the transverselyextending rod or shaft, 62, and is provided on its outer end with anupwardly extending and angularly bent arm, 63. A coil spring, 64, isinterposed between and connected to a depending arm, 57, and theupwardly extending arm, 63, for the purpose of preventing the accidentaldisplacement of the dog, 59, with respect to the a in, 60.

Pivotally mounted upon a rod or shaft, 67, which is supported betweenthe end plates, 10 and 11, is a plurality of paw -lifting arms, 68, onefor each column of keys, as is clearly illustrated in Figure 3 of theaccompanying drawings. Each of the arms, 68', is provid ed with a pairof, downwardly bent ears or lugs,69, which form the pivotal connectionbetween the rod or' shaft, 67. The forward end of each arm, 68, is bentdownwardly, as

at '70, and is provided with a horizontally i disposed and angularlybentledge or extension, 71, for the purpose of contacting with and liftingthe down-pawl, 48, out' of engagement with the ratchet teeth, 30, formedupon the upperedge of themain controlpiece; The rear end,-72, of thepawl-lifting arms is slightly bent downwardly and is adapted to beengaged'by the forward end, 7 5,0f a bellcrank member, 76 which might betermed a pawl, 61, w'hich, fortl1e sake of clearness, I

K may term a stop-hook lever. The pawl, 61,

is also in alignment with the main control piece, 28, so that at apredetermined period,

as will be hereinafterfurther described, this pawlmay be engaged'bythenotch or depression, 36. There being but-one bell-crank member, 76,it is obvious that the remainder of the forwardly extendingplates,'75', need not be provided with depending arms, 78.

Again referringto the pawl lifting arms, 68, it; will benoted'withparticular reference to Figures 3 and"12,that I have providedan outwardly extending and integrally formed lug or projection, 80,which is adapted to en gageat certain intervals the ledgeor reducedportion, 81,formed on=the upper end of a vertically extending andrelatively narrow arm, 82 which is mounted to oscillate'upon atransversely extending rod or shaft, 83 This arm, 82, is provided at itslowermost edge with a substantially horizontal arm, 84, which is bentupwardly to provide the arm, 85, The upper end of the arm, 85, is inline with the nose, 35, of the main control piece, '28, and

. is adapted to be engaged thereby at predetermined intervals forrocking the-arm, 82, whereby the lug, 80, will be disengaged from the*iedge, 81. I provide a coil spring, 86, whichis secured'near the lowerend of the arm, 82, and its opposite end to the stationary rod, 88, forthe purpose of causing the ledge, 81,to bear against thelug,-;

'A spacing rod, orbar, 87, is provided with shoulders and reducedportionsat their upper and lower ends, which are loosely mounted insuitableopeningsfiin the pawllifting arm, 68, and the lower or lip-pawl,49, so that they will have the same relative movement. A coilspring,-86, is interposed between and connected to theup-pawl, 49, and

' the pawl-lifting arm, 68,forthe purpose of applying tension on theshoulders of each end of the spacing member, 87, whereby the relativemovement of these members Wlll be assured;

Again referring to the rounded nose portion, 45, formed upon the upperend of the diagonally extending arm, 44, which is adapted to, atalltimes, support the pawllifting arm, 68, by hearing against the lowerside thereof, I accomplish this continuous contact by means of a coilspring, 90, which is connected at one end to the pawl-lifting device andits opposite end to the relatively stationary rod or shaft, 51, as isclearly illustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6.

For the purpose of permitting the downpawl, 48, to bear against andengage the teeth, 30, of the main control piece and to yieldingly retainthis pawl in its forward position by reasonof the fact that the rodorshaft, 50, is mounted in an elongated slot, 54, I provide a relativelyshort coil spring, 92, and secure it at one end to the relativelystationary shaft, 67, and its opposite end to the lug, 93, which ispreferably bent upwardly from the rearward end of the downpawl, 48.

For the purpose of permitting the usual lock control lever, 40, tooscillate a predetermined distanee about the rod orshaft, 95,1

provide a downwardly extending lug, 96, which is adapted to pass throughan opening,

97, suitably formed in that portion of the stationary frame. The cut-outportion, 98, formed in one edge of the depending lug 96, as isillustrated in Figures 4, 5 and 6, will, of course, permit thismovement. i The lock control lever, 40, is yieldingly held in its normalposition, as is shown in Figure 4, by means of the coil spring, 100,which has one end thereof connected tothearm, 42, and its other endsecured to the transversely extending stationary rod, 88. c

Referring now particularly to Figures 1 and 2, which indicate generallythe resetting mechanism in connection with the usual resetting arm, 105,106 indicates a slidably mounted lever, having a downwardly and off-setportion, 107. A rocking lever, 108, which is pivoted in its approximatecenter as at 109, is pivoted at its lower end to the off-set portion,107, and has pivotally mounted to its upper end one end of a link, 110.The opposite end of the link is pivotally connected to the lower end ofan oscillating lever, 111, which is, in turn, rigidly secured to thetransversely extending rock shaft or rod, 77, and is located on theouter side of the end plate, 10. A coil spring, 103, is connectedbetween the upper end of the rock lever, 108, and the rear end of thelever, 106, for the purpose of returning the lever, 106, to its rearwardor extreme position, Near the forward end of the lever, 106, I provide aslot, 101, which is engaged by a bolt, 102, for supporting and guidingthe lever, 106, and the pawl, 113. The rod, 83, may be extended beyondthe outer edge of the plate, 10, for the purpose of limiting therearward movement of the slidably mounted lever, 106, supplemental tothe slot and bolt, 101 and 102.

The automatic release for the purpose of moving the lever, 106, apredetermined distance or sufliciently to actuate the cancelling releasearm, 7 6, which will raise the downpawl, 48, through the medium of thepawllifting arm, 68, is indicated generally as at 112. A dog or pawl,113, is pivotally mounted to the forward end of the lever, 106, and isprovided on its upper end with an angularly disposed stop, 114, which isadapted to bear against the hubportion, 115, common to this type ofcalculating machines. Formed integrally with the arm, 114, is arearwardly extending portion, 116, for the purpose of supporting one endof the coil spring, 117, whose opposite endis secured to a relativelystationary arm, 118, which is carried by the forward end of the lever,106. A transversely extending pin, 119, is secured to the rear end ofthe sliding lever, 120, and its upper end is flattened for the purposeof more readily engaging the toothed portion of the pawl or dog, 113.lVhen the lever, 120, 1s moved forwardly through the medium of the handresetting arm, 105, to which it 15, of course, pivoted, the pin, 119,will pull the dog or pawl, 113, forwardly and continue until theupwardly extending arm, 114, comes in contact with the hub portion, 115,when a continued movement of the lever, 120, will cause the upwardmovement of the dog, 113, about its pivot, 121. The pawl, 113, will nowbegin to be moved upwardly and be freed from the pin, 119, and bereturned to its normal position as is shown in Figure 1 and as isillustrated in dotted linesin Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings. I

The audible signal, which is associated with my improved key-lockingmechanism and which is clearly illustrated in Figure 11 of theaccompanying drawings, together with the diagrammatic illustrationsshown in Figures 4, 5 and.6, consists of a hell or other audible device,124, which is securely mounted on the inner side of the plate, 11. Onthe flattened side of the rock shaft, 62, I securely mount the hammer,125, so that it will normally be spaced from the bell, 124,

as is shown in Figures 4, 6 and 11, and which Operation In the operationof my automatic control and audible and visible signal, as when the key,15, is depressed by the operator, it comes 3 in contact with the mainlever which pulls the main control piece, 28, forward, which, beingprovided with ratchet teeth, 30, on its upper edge, permits the downpawl, 48, to slip or ride over them, corresponding in number with thenumeral indicated upon the key depressed. Just previous to the end ofthe downstroke of the key, 15, the shoulder of the key comes in contactwith the shoulder of the lock control lever, 40, forcing it downwardlyor rocking about its pivot, 95, thus raising the rearward end, 43, andthe angular arm, 44, of the arm, 42. The upward movement of the end, 45,of the arm, 44, lifts the pawl lifting arm 68 sufficiently to raise thedown pawl, 48, to disengage it from the ratchet teeth, 30. At this timethe down pawl disengage support, 82, is permitted to rock forward aboutits pivot, 83, to permit the ledge, 81, to engage beneath the extension,80, of the pawl lifting arm, 68, and hold it in its elevated position,as is clearly shown in Figure 6.

By reason of the spacing rod, 87, being sup ported between the pawllifting arm, 68, and

the up pawl, 49, the raising of the arm, 68, of

course, permits the pawl, 49, to correspondingly raise, by reason ofthe. coil spring, 86. In this manner, the up-pawl, 49, engaging theratchet teeth, 31, on the under side of the main control piece, 28,prevents the depression of said key until a full up stroke has beencompleted.

a When the operator, after partially depressinga key, 15, removes hisfinger therefrom, the key returns a very slight distance up wardly,which upward movement simultaneously locks all of the keysin all of thecolumns other than the column containing the partially depressed key,and in addition thereto sounds the audible signal, 124. This isaccomplished by means of the down-pawl, 48, which, having been in asliding engagement with the ratchet teeth, 30, of the main controlpiece, 28, is now engaged by one of the teeth, 30, and pushed rearwardlyagainst the tension of the coil spring, 92.

The rearward movement of the pawl, 48, is comparatively very slight andis limited, of course, by the elongated slot, 52, with respect to theshaft, 50, upon which the pawl is mounted. The slight rearward movementof the down-pawl, 48, is suflicient to cause the downwardly bent end,55, thereof to engage the arm, 56, of thecontrol lever hook release, 57,and rock the rod or bar, 58. The rocking movement of the dog, 59, issufiicient to release the lever stop hook, 61, and cause the shaft orrod, 62, to rock slightly. When the lever stop hook, 61, has moveddownwardly, all of the columns of keys will be effectively locked byreason'of the fact that a lever stop hook is provided for each column,all being mounted upon the same rock shaft, 62, and are adapted toengage the cut-out ortions, 36, formed in theupper end of eac of themain control pieces. As hasbeen already explained, the hammer, 125,will, at this moment, strike the bell, 124, and sound the:

audiblev alarm, which will permit, the operator a glance at the keyboard, and readily complete the operation by the continued downwardpressure of the partially de ressed key, 15. The fact that the key,which has been partially depressed indicating an incomplete stro e,remains in that position instead of returning to its normal or initialposition, of course, provides a visible signal for the operator. I

When the partially depressed key, 15, is further depressed to completethe operative stroke, the rocking movement of the lock control lever,40, lifts the pawl lifting arm, 68, disengages the down-pawl, 48, fromits locked position with respect to its teeth, 30, and the end, 43, ofthe arm, 42, lifts the lever stop hook, 61, rocks the shafts, 62, anddisengages and unlocks the severalcolumns of keys.

\Vhen a given key is partially depressed, the dogs 15' are actuated tolook all of the 5 keys of the column containing said partially depressedkey. At this time none of the keys of the other columns are locked.Immediately upon release of said partially depressed key, the mechanismfunctions to release the v dog 61 so as to look all of the keys of allof the remaining columns simultaneously, and at the same time bringabout the locking (against complete return movement) of the partiallydepressed key.

In order to return the partially depressed key to its initial position,it is necessary to depress said key to the lower extremity of itsmovement. The distance between the initial depressed position and thelower extreme position is such that said key may be intermittentlydepressed and released a num- I ber of times, each time causing the keyto be locked (against complete return movement) in a lower plane.

I claim:

1. In a keyboard calculating machine, a plurality of columns of keys,means operative upon partial depression of a given key to look all ofthe keys in the column containing said partially depressed key, andmeans operative upon release of said partially depressed key to effectlocking of all keys of the remaining columns, said last named lookingmeans including a key control lever associated with each column andhaving hook portions adapted to engage the keys of said column forholding down any key which is relieved of pressure after a partialdepresslon.

2. In a keyboard calculating machine, a plurality of columns of keys,means active upon partial actuation of a key in a given column to lockagainst actuation all of the remaining keys of that column, and other"means to look all keys of all of the other columns so long as thepartially actuated key remains in its partially actuated state, saidother locking means including a memberassociated with each columnof keysand capable of simultaneously preventing actuation of all of the keys inthe column with which it is associated.

8. In a keyboard, calculating machine, a plurality of columns of keys,means operative upon partial depression of a given key to lockagainstdepression all of the remaining keys in the column containingsaid partially depressed key, and means operative upon release of: saidpartially depressed key to effect locking against depression of all keysof the remaining columns, means operable upon complete depression ofsaid partially depressed key for releasing one of said locking means,and means operable upon release and restoration to normal position ofsaid completely depressed key for releasing the other locking means. 6

4. In a keyboard calculating machine, a plurality of columns of keys,means operative upon partial depression of a given key to lock againstdepression all of the remaining keys in the column containing saidpartially depressed key, and means operative upon release of saidpartially depressed key to eflect locking against depression of all keysof the remaining columns, means automatically operable upon completedepression of said partially depressed key for releasing one of saidlocking means, and means operable upon release and restoration to normalposition of said completely depressed key for releasing the otherlocking means.

JOHN H. F. SILVER.

